A gold mine in Bolivar state in the south of Venezuela JORGE SILVA/REUTERS/Alamy
The destruction of the Amazon rainforest is accelerating faster in Venezuela than in any other country, spurred by a state-sanctioned boom in gold mining.
鈥淣o one is seeing this destruction because it’s happening so fast that it’s impossible to measure,鈥 says Alejandro 脕lvarez Iragorry, the coordinator of Clima21, an NGO that promotes environmental human rights in Venezuela. 鈥淭he environmental damage and the speed with which it’s happening is disastrous.鈥
Around 63 per cent of Venezuela鈥檚 land is covered by natural forest and it is one of the…
